Loaded 2028 class in state of Arizona has national appeal
It is a defensive-heavy group, especially with the top three recruits in the state, but there is plenty of offensive firepower in the state.
Here is a look at some of the top recruits in the Grand Canyon State and how their recruitments are lining up.
–Goodyear (Ariz.) Desert Edge edge Jalanie George is the highest-rated defensive prospect in the 2028 class by Rivals. In May, George named a top six of, alphabetically, Auburn, Florida, Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Washington. He plans to visit Auburn when they host Florida on September 19 and he’s working on finalizing a visit to Ohio State. Two of his teammates are committed to Washington, 2027 quarterback Blake Roskopf and receiver Zerek Sidney and he said he wants to get to Husky Stadium this fall and Oklahoma is also likely to get him to visit with his committed teammate Mikyal Davis. In June, he camped at Miami and also made a multi-day visit to Florida and said he hit it off with head coach Jon Sumrall. He plans to trim his list once more this fall and hopes to have a decision in January at the Navy All-American Bowl.
–Chandler (Ariz.) Hamilton cornerback Keaton Fields maintains he’s completely wide open and won’t even hint at schools standing out. With nearly 30 offers, Fields was able to visit Notre Dame, Penn State and Texas A&M and he’s working on plans for game day visits, with a few games being considered but nothing locked in. Arizona State offered him in June as part of the Golden Ticket push, and his father played for the Sun Devils, and he said they were one of three schools recruiting him the hardest along with Texas A&M, which has had major success in the state the last two years, as well as USC, where his teammate, Roye Oliver is committed.
–Chandler (Ariz.) Basha defensive lineman Landen Wade did mostly Western visits in the spring, with stops at Cal, Oregon and Washington. But he’s got plans to visit Oklahoma and Texas Tech for the season as well as UCLA and USC, back in Southern California, where he’s originally from before moving to Arizona. He also will be at multiple games at Arizona State, one of the Sun Devils’ main in-state targets, and he has two teammates committed there, offensive tackle Jake Hildebrand and kicker Mikey Barth. Georgia has been in frequent contact and along with Alabama and Tennessee, they’ll all be watching his first few games with the chances of an offer. Wade said the schools recruiting him the hardest were Arizona State, Cal, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas Tech, USC and Washington.
–Goodyear (Ariz.) Desert Edge safety Jaelyn Easterling-Flores plans to trim his own list in the next month or two and he’s hoping to have a decision in January when he plays in the Navy All-American Bowl in San Antonio. Easterling-Flores said the list will be a final list instead of just a top list. In the early part of spring, he visited Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Texas A&M and then in the late part of spring, he visited Florida, LSU, Miami and Oregon, camping with Miami. When he names his final five, he said each of those schools will get a visit from him this season.
–Chandler (Ariz.) Hamilton quarterback Jax Sculley has a pair of schools that have emerged out front for him, both from the Big 12- home state Arizona and Texas Tech. He’s visited both schools, Texas Tech for an unofficial visit and Arizona for a pair of games last fall, with plans to be back in Tucson this season. He’s hoping to get back down to Lubbock during his bye week. He also visited Arizona State as well as USC, which has a verbal from his favorite target, Roye Oliver.
–Goodyear (Ariz.) Desert Edge cornerback Nekhi Lambeth camped with Miami in the summer after he visited Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Texas A&M earlier in the spring. Now he’s got a full slate of visits for the fall, with the hometown school, Arizona State, his mother’s alma mater, getting him for the opener on September 5. He has subsequent visits set for Michigan on September 12, Texas A&M on September 19, Georgia on September 26, Missouri on October 3, Indiana on October 17, Miami on October 24, Wisconsin, where teammates Yahzeen Zion and Nathan Jones are committed, on November 7 and North Carolina on November 14. He also plans to announce a top ten in the fall and could announce at the Navy All-American Bowl in January.
–Chandler (Ariz.) Hamilton running back Devante Roebuck has Arizona out front for him, with the Wildcats prioritizing him from the jump and staying in constant contact with him, with Roebuck camping with Arizona this summer, as well as San Diego State. Arizona State has also been ramping up their contact with him and Oregon, Nebraska and Cal have as well. He visited Arizona State and Nebraska and plans to attend games at both as well as Arizona and Cal.
–Goodyear (Ariz.) Desert Edge running back Jhaheem Brown camped with UTEP in the summer and that was his most recent offer, but he’s in the process of setting up visits elsewhere, with plans for trips to Arizona, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Washington State during the fall.
–Chandler (Ariz.) Hamilton safety Kacey Allen was able to get on the road during the spring, with visits out to a trio of Big Ten schools in UCLA, USC and Wisconsin. He also visited hometown Arizona State and the Sun Devils extended him a coveted offer on June 15, with a ‘Golden Ticket.’ During the fall, he’s planning some national visits, to Alabama, Florida, Ohio State and Oregon.
—Mesa (Ariz.) edge Sione Taueli said the offers standing out most were Arizona, Arizona State, Iowa State, UCLA, Washington and Washington State. The Sun Devils offered him in June as part of ‘Golden Ticket’ day and he said they were recruiting him the hardest, with his teammate, Kingston Anetema, also committed to the Sun Devils in the 2027 class. In the spring, he visited UCLA, USC, Rutgers, which signed his teammate Ian Ngaue-Stephenson in 2026, and Arizona State. While he doesn’t have any visits lined up just yet for the fall, he said Arizona State is a definite destination during the season.
–Scottsdale (Ariz.) Horizon offensive tackle Liam McNeal was another Golden Ticket recipient and the Sun Devil offer resonated heavily with him. But so too did Minnesota, his first Big Ten offer. San Diego State is also hanging in there for McNeal. He camped with the Sun Devils, where he impressed offensive line coach Saga Tuitele and was offered the following week and he also camped with Arizona and Northern Arizona. He said the Sun Devils were recruiting him the hardest.
–Gilbert (Ariz.) Perry athlete Amos Augustine said a pair of Big 12 schools are sticking out to him, Arizona and Kansas. The Jayhawks have done well in Arizona in recent years while Arizona is prioritizing him as a key in-state target. He said those two are recruiting him the hardest. Boise State has also made a move in his recruitment, and for good reason- the Broncos have a commitment from his quarterback, Kael Snyder. In fact, he earned his offer from the Broncos when the offensive coaches were at the Perry Showcase in May to watch Snyder. All three of those schools will get a visit from him during the season as well as Arizona State, and he’s trying to get out to Minnesota and Wisconsin in season too.
–Phoenix (Ariz.) Mountain Pointe receiver Aiden-Caleb Rodriguez has two former Pac-12 schools, now in the ACC and the Big 12 respectively, emerging early on. Cal and Utah, each which had Rodriguez in for a visit, are early front runners for him. He also visited a newcomer to the Pac-12 in San Diego State while hometown Arizona State also had him in for a visit during the spring. As for visits in the season, he’ll be at Washington on October 9th when the Huskies host Iowa and he’s also finalizing the dates for visits to Texas A&M and Wisconsin.
–Goodyear (Ariz.) Desert Edge running back Byron Brandon has a host of visits in the works for the fall, to the ACC, Big 12 and SEC. Brandon said he will for sure visit SMU, Kansas and Missouri for games during the season. His lone summer visit was to UTEP.
–Peoria (Ariz.) Centennial tight end Torrin Hill said a few schools from his double-digit offers are making big impressions on him. Hill said Minnesota, Wisconsin, Purdue, Texas A&M and Washington State have stepped to the forefront in his recruitment but more schools could join the mix this fall. In the spring, he checked out Oregon, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan and Kansas State and he’s planning return visits to Oregon and Minnesota for the fall as well as a trip to Wisconsin. He’s also hoping to get to Indiana, Purdue and Texas A&M in-season as well.
–Phoenix (Ariz.) Mountain Pointe safety Legarrette Blount Jr. has a clear top two – Ohio State and Oregon. The Ducks are an obvious standout for him – his father, Lagarrette Sr., was a running back for the Ducks before a long NFL career and his childhood favorite. But the Buckeyes had him in camp and offered him after the camp and that offer put Ohio State in a great position with the Duck legacy. He’s planning to attend games in both Columbus and Eugene this fall.
–Peoria (Ariz.) Centennial quarterback Titus Hill has four offers under his belt but he’s positioned for a big junior season that he’s hopeful expands his options. During the summer, he camped at Kansas State, Oregon, San Diego State and Wayne State. Hill said that Kansas, Nebraska and Oregon have been in the most discussions with him and each have said they’ll be keeping a close watch on the start of his junior campaign.
–Phoenix (Ariz.) Brophy Prep cornerback Xavier Sandhu had his most recent offer come from Miami, with the ‘Canes offering him on Monday. They joined offers from UCLA, Washington and Penn State among the offers that have grabbed his attention the most. He visited each of the four Power 4 schools in California, UCLA, USC, Stanford and Cal. Penn State, UCLA and Washington have been the schools recruiting Sandhu the hardest and he’s putting together his slate of visits for games this fall.
–Peoria (Ariz.) Centennial offensive tackle Karmello Calloway remains a solid commit to Arizona, where he pledged in early April. But Washington, which was in heavy pursuit prior to his commitment, hasn’t stopped recruiting him, nor has Kansas, and each are trying to get him to a game this fall. The lone visit he has lined up, though, is to see the Wildcats play Cincinnati on October 3 in Tucson.
–Phoenix (Ariz.) Thunderbird receiver Daryl Little has two schools sticking out to him- Arizona and Minnesota. He camped with the Wildcats as a defensive back and with Little playing quarterback this season, Arizona loves his positional versatility. He also camped with Arizona State, as a receiver, earning the overall camp MVP and also camped with San Diego State and USC. He’s planning in-season visits to Arizona, Arizona State, Minnesota and San Diego State and hopes to get to Oregon State and USC as well.
–Phoenix (Ariz.) Brophy Prep tight end Brady Powell is no stranger to the Big Ten, with his brother, Logan Powell at Wisconsin, and he has a pair of Big Ten schools sticking out to him, Minnesota and Washington. He’s been to Minnesota already for a visit and said the Gophers were recruiting him the hardest and he’s previously visited Arizona, where his oldest brother, Tyler Powell, is a senior tight end for the Wildcats. He’s planning to attend games at Arizona once again this fall as well as Washington.
–Chandler (Ariz.) Basha receiver Makai Nelson is a full go for his junior season after a transfer sidelined him as a sophomore. But he’s well in to double-digits for offers thanks to an outstanding offseason. Nelson said a pair of Big 12 schools along with an SEC school are out front for him. Arizona State, which offered him on Golden Ticket day in June, Kansas and Vanderbilt are the three standing out in the early going but his list should expand as his junior film gets out. Nelson is also hearing extensively from Ohio State, Oregon and USC, while he’s planning to visit Oregon and Washington for games along with hometown Arizona State. Two teammates are commits to the Sun Devils and he said that Arizona State was recruiting him the hardest.
–Gilbert (Ariz.) Perry cornerback Jordan Williams has ties to Washington– his older brother, Demond Williams Jr., is the starting quarterback for the Huskies. But its their Big Ten rivals, Oregon, who are sticking out to Williams the most. He earned his offer from the Ducks this summer. Washington has offered too and the Huskies are recruiting him hard as well. He’s working on a slate of games for the fall while balancing seeing his brother play but he’s also eager for the season to give him some more options with both Iowa and Missouri also in steady contact as well as Indiana and Purdue.
–Scottsdale (Ariz.) Desert Mountain running back Easton Conner has a trio of offers in, including reigning FCS national champions Montana State while Utah, which has also offered, also heavily involved with him. He visited Utah during the spring and camped with them in June and said he’s a fan of running backs coach Mark Atuaia. Arizona State, though, is his dream school, and he’s visited multiple times.
–Peoria (Ariz.) Liberty defensive back Kadin Young said the offers standing out to him the most are all schools out West- Arizona, Fresno State, Montana State, New Mexico State and Northern Arizona. He plans to attend games at all three of the in-state schools, Arizona, Arizona State and Northern Arizona as well as Fresno State and Montana State. Young said Arizona was recruiting him the hardest.
–Goodyear (Ariz.) Desert Edge defensive back Jordan Davis has offers from Nevada, New Mexico and Western Michigan sticking out to him while Arizona, Arizona State, Kansas State and San Diego State are all in steady communication and keeping an eye on him this upcoming season.
–Peoria (Ariz.) Centennial athlete Josiah Carothers said Northern Arizona, where his older brother, Elijah Carothers, is committed, was the leader but he’s also getting plenty of attention from New Mexico and North Dakota, each which is working to get him to visit. He also wants to visit Oregon this season.
—Mesa (Ariz.) linebacker Kainalu Skipps has a pair of offers in, from Northern Arizona and New Mexico. And he’s on the radar of the other two in-state programs, Arizona and Arizona State, the latter which has a commitment from his cousin and teammate, Kingston Anetema. The Wildcats will get him to campus this fall as well as Arizona State while he plans to get back to his native Southern California during the season as well to see UCLA.
–Goodyear (Ariz.) Desert Edge receiver Hajj Brown camped with UTEP in the summer and the Miners became the first school to offer him. He’s also been talking with Nevada, North Dakota State, Northern Arizona and Texas Tech.
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